The series serves as a prequel to the events of Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie. 

After a long time in gestation, thanks to a combination of the pandemic and the Hollywood strikes, we finally have some solid sounding details of the Alien television series.

Thanks to World of Reel, via Film Stories, we understand the FX show has the working title Alien: Neverland.

Showrunner Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) previously discussed his plans to address AI themes, and the brief synopsis bears that out.

‘In Alien: Neverland we are introduced to the characters on Earth set 30 years prior to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien film. Characters are caught in a conflict with the beginning of AI intelligence and the competition among developers and users.’

There’s plenty to explore here, with sentient androids like Bishop being a core element of the franchise since its beginnings. The “neverland” title? Perhaps a reference to the dreamlike otherworlds  that AI could offer. Interestingly, the show appears to be set at 30, rather than 70 years prior to the original movie.

Hawley, speaking to Esquire back in January 2022 said:

“In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence—but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads? Which of those technologies is going to win? It’s ultimately a classic science fiction question: does humanity deserve to survive?”

However, quite where the Alien creatures fit into this premise remains to be seen, although the World of Reel piece makes mention of a genetically engineered bioweapon. It will be interesting to see how and if that meshes with the previous prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.

Spring 2025?

In terms of production, currently taking place in Thailand, we know that Timothy Olyphant and Sydney Chandler lead the cast. Also announced are Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis and Kit Young. The series is expected to land on FX/Hulu in Spring 2025 – hopefully that translates into a Disney+ release worldwide.

We’ll keep you posted.